A New Spin On Laundry

SERVICE

2 Chains Hope Size, Amenities Wash Away Competition.

The next time you catch a whiff of sweaty gym socks, Peter Ax wants you to think SpinCycle.

"When you think coffee, you think Starbucks. When you think fast food, you think McDonald's. Why can't laundry have a brand name?" asked Ax, president of SpinCycle of Scottsdale, Ariz.

SpinCycle and its rival start-up company, Laundromax of Fort Lauderdale, want to do for self-serve laundry what Blockbuster did for movie rentals. That is, convince customers to ditch the small, run-of-the mill facility for larger, cleaner versions with national labels.

Both companies are targeting the same demographics as the mom-and-pop laundromats which dominate the industry - large working-class families and renters.

Laundromax and SpinCycle stores are twice the size of most laundries, with uniformed attendants, industrial-strength machines, central air conditioning, a kid's area and lots of televisions. They also provide dropoff dry cleaning and the increasingly popular wash-and-fold service for busy customers.

Jennifer Marquez, 24, from North Miami Beach said "good riddance" to "those generic coin laundries."She has been doing her weekly wash at the SpinCycle near her home since the store opened 5 months ago.

"I feel safer here than at the laundromat I used to go to," said Marquez, folding a comforter. Her 2-year-old son, Wisdom, chases a ball down an aisle of front-load washing machines. "I don't have to worry about my kids running out into the street or getting filthy and the people who work here don't act like I'm bugging them when I ask for help. It's refreshing."

Two-year-old SpinCycle leads in the race to go national. With $190 million in debt and private equity financing, SpinCycle is projecting 200 stores, 1,200 employees and $40 million in sales by year's end. The chain has opened 111 stores in 22 markets from Los Angeles to Philadelphia, with 12 stores in Florida and 12 more by late December.

Laundromax is still small by comparison. With $7 million in private equity and a $20 million line of credit, it opened its first store in Hialeah in May. Now there are 5 stores in South Florida with plans for 6 more by year's end. Within 5 years, it hopes to have 400 stores nationwide.

Others have tried to clean up in the laundry business. Duds 'n Suds, an Iowa franchiser, caused a brief stir in the mid-1980s by serving cocktails. Others have offered tanning beds, mailboxes and shoe repair.

A topless laundry in Fort Lauderdale, the Helpy-Selfy on Flagler Drive, gained national attention in the late 70s by offering topless dancers in a rear lounge. The Helpy-Selfy fell into disrepair and was demolished in 1982.

Alan Haig, president of Laundromax, is banking that customers "simply want a product they can use, with great service.

"Consumers want a convenient laundromat with friendly attendants and a fair price."

Haig and Ax say they are "far from laundry experts" themselves. Haig hasn't frequented a coin laundry since ''my college days" at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. Similarly, Ax, a former New York investment banker, said, "I don't think I ever used a coin laundry before we began this business."

But both men know how to package a product - right down to the stores' blue-and-yellow color scheme, which is similar to Blockbuster's. Ax said he "enjoys being confused" with the video rental dynasty, if only subliminally, and believes his company will be ripe to go public in a year. Haig said Laundromax will "stay private for now."

Oddly enough, both have former ties to Blockbuster.

Haig is the former director of strategic planning for Blockbuster Entertainment. Former Blockbuster President Gerry Geddis is a member of Laundromax's board. The new feature will have Laudromax machines running on "clean cards", said Eric Lambert, vice president of operations. The debit-like cards free attendants from having to collect coins and repair jammed machines.

Both companies charge about $1 for a load of wash, and 55 cents-a-pound for wash-and-dry.